Kogi State Widow Recounts Losing Husband, Two Children to Suspected Food Poisoning

A woman known locally as Mama Rahama has spoken out after losing her husband and two of her children to a suspected poisoning linked to a meal of amala, a dish made from cassava flour, in Ohuepe, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The family sat down to the meal for dinner after Mama Rahama bought the cassava flour from a local market and prepared it herself.

"Except my four-year-old lastborn, Mikail, who refused to eat the food, my husband, Rahama, Rabiyat, Samad, Senani and Haliru ate the amala for dinner," she said.

Everyone went to bed as usual, but by the next day, those who had eaten the meal began experiencing severe weakness.

Mama Rahama survived largely by chance. She had recently been discharged from the hospital and had little appetite that evening, so she ate only a small portion.

"I could only take a little because I had poor appetite and had just been discharged from hospital," she said.

Her husband and two of her children, Rabiyat and Samad, had eaten more of the meal than the rest of the family.

Her four-year-old son, Mikail, survived simply because he refused to eat it at all.

As the illness worsened overnight, vomiting, weakness and stomach pains set in among those affected.

"As the situation became worse, four of us were rushed to Ado Ozuka Hospital in Ogaminana," Mama Rahama said.

What followed was a rapid, devastating loss. "But Rabiyat di£d, followed by Samad and later my husband, all within a few hours on the same day," she said.

The three family members died on August 14, 2026, two days after eating the meal, having shown signs consistent with suspected poisoning.

Mama Rahama has since been discharged from hospital and is now appealing to the Kogi State Government and members of the public to support her and the surviving members of her family.